C-Command Software Forum

Importing/Moving Files into EF via Hazel

#1

I’ve been using EF for a few weeks now and really like the organizational capabilities it offers.

I’m looking for some help regarding my paperless workflow, with runs through Hazel. The issue that keeps arising is this:
I throw everything that needs to be permanently filed into what I call an 'Action" folder
From there, Hazel is instructed to look for particular files, then move them to where I permanently want them to reside in EF, add tags, and finally rename the file. It all works great except for the renaming. Almost all the file are PDFs, and sometimes they have non descriptive names when added to the Action folder, so renaming them allows me a lot of consistency. (for instance, all bank statements will have the name <Date>-<BankName Statement>.pdf) This all worked perfectly before I had Hazel moving the files into EF, but since I started that, I get situations where the name never changes when it’s imported/moved into EF.

I’ve tried a couple of things as a test: having the file moved from Action to a folder not in EF and it changes the name. (so I don’t think it’s a Hazel issue) Also tried having the file moved into the 'To Import" folder within EF, name still doesn’t change. Lastly, I tried moving it directly into the folder within EF where I wanted it to reside. Still no change in name.

Am I missing something? Thanks for any help you might have.

#2

It sounds like maybe you’re looking at the Title column rather than the File column. If Hazel is only changing the filename, that will only change the File column in EagleFiler.

#3

Aha! (now I feel kind of dense!)
You are absolutely correct.
I don’t think Hazel has the ability to rename the Title, only the file name. Easily solved by showing the File name column in EF.

Thank you.

#4

Importing to EagleFiler from Hazel Using an EagleFiler AppleScript to Trap Duplicates
This is an old thread but I have a similar issue.

I’m having a problem with duplicate files ending up in EagleFiler (EF) when imported from Hazel. EF does a great job catching duplicates when I import directly via hot keys (Option Function F1). But when Hazel rules do the importing, duplicates can go unnoticed even though I have the Hazel option to “Throw away: Duplicate files”.

So it occurred to me that if I modify my Hazel rules to import the files using an AppleScript rather than simply telling Hazel to “Move” the file to the intended folder, it may provide the opportunity for EF to catch the duplicates. It seems EF does a pretty good job of identifying duplicates and I’m betting it does so using checksums.

Before I delve into EF Import scripts running from within Hazel, can someone please confirm that if I take this scripted import route, that EF will reject duplicates when files are imported using AppleScript?

My Hazel rules work like this:

  • Check for a text match, like an account number

  • add tags to the file,

  • Run a shell script to change the date created based on the prepended date in the filename,

  • Rename the file,

  • Move the file to a specific folder,

  • Run an AppleScript to tell EagleFiler to scan for new files.

BTW, I did try the “Remove Duplicate Files”. It seems to run best when a small number of files are selected. If I select my entire library, it runs for hours and my system says the job is not responding. It may be a memory limit issue on my iMac.

#5

Yes. Please also see my reply in the other thread.